12 fishermen saved as typhoon batters South Korea

Wednesday

Aug 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2012 at 11:56 AM

SEOUL, South Korea - A powerful typhoon pounded South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain yesterday, killing 10 people and churning up rough seas that smashed two Chinese fishing ships into rocks and forced the coast guard to perform a daring rescue of survivors.

SEOUL, South Korea — A powerful typhoon pounded South Korea with strong winds and heavy rain yesterday, killing 10 people and churning up rough seas that smashed two Chinese fishing ships into rocks and forced the coast guard to perform a daring rescue of survivors.

Rescuers saved 12 fishermen and searched for 10 still missing from the ships that hit rocks off South Korea’s southern Jeju island. Five fishermen were killed, officials said.

Separately, at least four others died as Typhoon Bolaven knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of South Koreans, canceled flights and temporarily halted joint war games by U.S. and South Korean military forces.

North Korea, still struggling to rebuild from massive floods and a devastating drought before them, was in the typhoon’s path. Heavy rain and strong winds hit many parts of the country yesterday.

The typhoon knocked down hundreds of trees, destroyed power cables and caused blackouts in the western cities of Kaesong and Haeju, the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said.

Off South Korea’s Jeju island, dangerous waves kept rescue vessels from approaching the wrecked ships. The coast guard used a special gun to shoot rope to one ship so officers could pull themselves over and bring the fishermen back to shore, coast guard spokesman Ko Chang-keon said.

Eighteen fishermen survived. The coast guard rescued 12, and the others swam or were washed ashore.

South Korea issued a storm warning for the capital, Seoul, as Bolaven knocked over street lights and church spires and ripped signs from stores.

A large container box crushed an apartment janitor, a woman fell to her death from a rooftop where she kept dried red peppers, and another person died after bricks hit a house, according to disaster and fire officials. An 80-year-old man died after a small makeshift building fell on him, officials said.

About 1.7 million South Korean homes and businesses lost power, the National Emergency Management Agency said. All but about 200,000 had electricity restored by last night.